Brittney Griner Makes a Fitting First Move

WNBA star dunks in light basketball workout
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 12, 2022 11:01 AM CST
Brittney Griner Makes a Fitting First Move
The Detroit Pistons organization paid tribute to the recent release of WNBA player Brittney Griner from Russia before a game on Sunday in Detroit.   (AP Photo/Jose Juarez)

Brittney Griner still hasn't addressed the public since her release from prison in Russia, but ESPN reports a nice development in her journey back to normalcy: She's dunking basketballs again. Griner's agent tells the outlet that the WNBA star worked out on a basketball court for the first time in 10 months on Sunday, and the first thing she did was dunk. Griner is still at Fort Sam Houston in Texas, and it remains unclear when, or if, she might return to her WNBA team, the Phoenix Mercury.

"If she wants to play, it will be for her to share," says agent Lindsay Kagawa Colas. "She has the holidays to rest and decide what's next without any pressure. She's doing really, really well. She seems to have endured this in pretty incredible ways." Another sign of normalcy: The barber for the San Antonio Spurs gave her a haircut on the military base. (Colas says Griner cut off her dreadlocks while in prison.) It's also unclear how long the 32-year-old would remain at the base, but "I'm understanding that it's going to be a few more days before she gets out," former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson told CNN on Sunday.

"We've got to give them a little space, a little time to readjust because they've had a horrendous experience in these Russian prisons,” said Richardson, who's worked on behalf of American hostages abroad, including Griner while she was detained. Once Griner reacclimates to life outside prison, her agent says she'll take up the cause of other detained Americans, including Paul Whelan, who remains in Russia. (Griner was eager to chat on her plane ride back to America.)

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